Venturing into a new relationship

The SmartStart Venture Forum and UNYTECH are working on a plan, which hasn’t yet been completed, to combine their separate venture capital forums beginning next year in an effort to offer a wider range of companies to investors.

SmartStart, managed by the Albany-based Center for Economic Growth, has focused on later-stage startups, while UNYTECH was focused on earlier-stage university startups. UNYTECH was created as a joint effort of several universities’ technology transfer offices.

“This is the culmination of the ongoing collaboration of the two largest venture forums in Upstate New York,” said Richard Honen, president of the Empire State Venture Group Inc., which owns SmartStart. He’s a partner in charge of the Albany office of law firm Phillips Lytle.

SmartStart has hosted presentations by 122 companies since its launch five years ago, with 44 of them receiving investments totaling $55 million.

UNYTECH’s presenters have received $18 million in funding over the past three years.